No to revenge tourism: ICMR sounds caution ahead of festive season, says increased tourist traffic could push up COVID-19 cases

With the festive season around the corner, people have begun making their travel plans. But experts in the health department have warned that against revenge tourism, stating that an increased tourist traffic and mass gatherings could push up COVID-19 infections and worsen an anticipated third wave in selected states. Meanwhile, the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR) has directed and suggested states, which are popular tourist destinations, like Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh and the north-eastern states to strictly implement pandemic protocols. Furthermore, it has also asked them to seek vaccination certificates or reports of negative coronavirus tests from all visitors. An increase in the traffic of travellers around the country, the medical research body has warned, could aid the third wave, which could see a surge in COVID-19 cases by 47 percent. Additionally, they have also stated that the rise in positive cases could even occur two weeks prior to the previously estimated November peak, this year. “A sudden increase in population density due to incoming tourists or mass congregations due to social, political or religious reasons can worsen the third wave scenario,” the experts said in an opinion piece. Titled ‘Responsible travel to and within India during the COVID-19 pandemic,’ the opinion piece was jointly authored by Nimalan Arinaminpathy from Imperial College London and Samiran Panda, Balram Bhargava, and Sandip Mandal from ICMR. Further, in the opinion piece, ICMR asserted that tourism-dependent states should come up with guidelines on how they can mitigate travel-related risks amid the ongoing pandemic.